Category Archives: SOLDIER

C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER – by Chris

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Build Title: C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER

 

Class: Geth Juggernaut Soldier

 

Map Difficulty Rating: This build has the potential for Gold gameplay, Platinum gameplay is plausible with the right team

 

Power Evolutions:
Hex Shield: (4) Shield Strength, (5) Duration, (6) Large Shield
Siege Pulse: (4) Damage, (5) Damage Protection, (6) Number of Shots
Geth Turret: N/A
Geth Juggernaut: (4) Weapon Damage, (5) Stability and Ammo, (6) Weapon Damage
Hardened Platform: (4) Durability, (5) Shield Recharge, (6) Power Transfer

 

Weapons:
Claymore has given best results against all enemies. Shotgun Shredder Mod and Smart Choke as the attachments.

 

Gear:
Gear: Juggernaut Shield preferred, personally. Berserker Package, Omni-Capacitors, Shotgun Amp, Stronghold Package, or Survivor Loadout could be used based on your experience.
Ammo: Incendiary or Disruptor to prime tech bursts.
Armor: Highest Adrenaline Module you have.
Weapon: Shotgun Rail Amp

 

Strategy:
Prime tech combos with your Claymore and detonate with Siege Pulse, alternating between the two. Being unable to dodge or take cover means you can easily reload-cancel your Claymore by hitting ‘A’ just as the ammo count changes. With a Claymore X, you will have 40 shots; I’ve never had to hit an ammo crate during a wave when playing with others. Defensively, you may choose to keep your four Siege Pulse rounds on you to add a 40% damage reduction. However, in my experience so far, using them for assault lets you make quicker work of your enemies. You should have a +95% cooldown with a Claymore X; using reload cancel, you will fire your fourth Siege Pulse round as your cooldown completes (given the base equipment above).
Use your Hex Shield primarily to block projectiles from missile enemies (Scions, Ravagers, Primes, Atlases, and Rocket Troopers) while you are engaged in close combat. Secondary, use it to block rounds from the soldier classes while you’re engaged with boss-level enemies. I’ve found that it’s fire from outside the close range fights that downs this build, so using your Hex Shield that way along with good timing with your heavy melee will increase your survivability GREATLY. Keep in mind that splash damage will still come through, so back off of your hex shield as soon as you place it. Use your heavy melee to recharge your shields when they get to around 33%.
Keep an eye on your Siege Pulse rounds. If you’re running low and need to place your Hex Shield, do it BEFORE reloading your Siege Pulse, which has a ~10s cooldown time.
The Adrenaline Module is a MUST for any spread-out map (Hydra and Vancouver come to mind) and reduces frustration on mid- to small-sized maps. You can’t take or vault cover, so you’ll have to go around commonly vaulted barriers in places like London and Giant. If you find yourself surrounded by smaller enemies, your regular melee will stagger. If you’re surrounded by boss enemies and your shield drops a bit too quickly for comfort when going on the attack, just tank with your heavy melee and call for backup while maneuvering gradually out of the dogpile.
On all objectives, use your Hex Shield the same way you normally do (place in the path of missiles first, rifles second). For the activation objectives, you will probably be able to distract enough enemies to make 1-3 a piece of cake for your team. Work your way back to 4 to defend whoever is activating.
For platinum, I would play with a Demolisher, an Infiltrator who can prime or detonate tech bursts, and another defensive Juggernaut for the fourth. On Gold-Glacier-Reapers with two Brutes and three Banshees on the rear incline, I (using this build and strategy) and a Demolisher took the whole lot of them out before they got to the top. This class is EXCELLENT at distracting large numbers of enemies, so keep the Infiltrator around to revive, prime tech bursts, and complete objectives. Keep the Demolisher close to you and the other Juggernaut, place the pylons to help with shields and keep the grenades flowing, and you’ll be sitting pretty.

 

N00b Rating:
3 – Though this is a tank of a class, you do need to get the timing down for the attack strategy and have a well-developed situational awareness to effectively defend you and your teammates.
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Quarian HOG – by JayneCobb88

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Build Title: Quarian HOG by JayneCobb88

 

Class: Quarian Soldier

 

Map Difficulty Rating: This build has the potential for Gold gameplay.

 

Power Evolutions:
Marksman: Accuracy (4), Headshots (5), Accuracy & Firing Rate (6)
Tactical Scan: Weapon Damage (4), Headshots (5), Damage (6)
Sabotage: N/A
Quarian Defender: Weapon Damage (4), Headshots (5), Weapon Damage (6)
Fitness: Durability (4), Shield Recharge (5), Fitness Expert (6)

 

Weapons:
Primary: Widow – Extended Barrel and Piercing Mod/Spare Thermal Clip depending upon your equipment level
Secondary: Talon – Extended Barrel and Ultralight HP Materials.

 

Gear:
Drill or Phasic Rounds
Anything to increase sniper rifle damage

 

Strategy:
The Quarian Soldier has so many flaws it just isn’t funny. Crap Health/Shields for a soldier class, zero crowd control capability, no way to cause spike damage and a horribly underpowered Sabotage with a god awful recharge time that gimps weapon weight if it is to be used even semi frequently. This class’ main damaging power is Marksman which requires players to expose themselves long enough to fire off hundreds of rounds, a terrible mix for such bad shields.
The solution is the Widow.
Keeping your distance, staying in cover and sniping reduce the need for more Health/Shields and crowd control. The Widow’s powerful single shot provides massive spike damage and also means minimal time exposed from cover vs three shots from the Black Widow. What’s more is since Marksman reloads the Widow instantly, two shots can be put down range while staying on scope and in less than ½ a second, effectively doubling the damage of an already overpowered gun. One shot can drop shields, the second kills. Furthermore, Tactical Scan can be used to reload cancel and doing so doesn’t force you out of cover. Tactical scan has a very fast recharge time and so can be used with every shot which is why Sabotage is avoided entirely because its use would just hamper Tactical Scan, that and the extra scan damage is nice. Tactical Scan also synergizes perfectly with the Widow’s natural cover piercing. Scan the target and headshot through a wall. Phantoms can be killed in a single shot; especially if the drill rounds are swapped out for phasic rounds (phasic rounds allow weapons to ignore shield gating). Keeping drill rounds provides for unparalleled kills through cover with a total of 4.35 meters (2.5m drill rounds, 0.5m widow, 1.35m piercing mod). Headshot damage becomes truly obscene when you add up the Widow’s base 250%, Tac Scan’s 25%, Marksman’s 25% and Quarian Defender’s 20% for a total of 320%.
Boss type enemies are also crushed by headshot damage but it does work a little differently from foot soldiers. Every boss has a weak spot that does 40% extra damage per shot which is turned into 110% by all 3 skills. Brutes
can be shot in the head, tough but doable. Banshees take extra damage when shot dead center in the chest. Ravagers don’t take extra damage from the eye but rather have a soft fleshy portion underneath, behind their front sac. Praetorian is under the beak. It will blow the lower armor plate off exposing the husk heads, you can then land a “headshot” to finish the beast. Scions can be hit in the head but the sac is also an option since doing so will debuff the Scion’s arm cannon and inflict immediate damage upon breaking. Geth Primes get shot in the head, Phantoms too. Atlases are kinda funny as their 40% weak point is the turbine in back but shooting dead center of the cockpit will cause the bullet to strike twice, doing double damage but not counting as a headshot and thus not applying the 70% damage bonuses the Quarian has going for him.
However, not every situation is best handled by a slow firing elephant gun and the lack of Tactical Cloak or grenades means a sidearm is essential and the Talon fills the role perfectly. When enemies get close and it becomes time to displace to a new sniper roost, the Talon hits hard, staggers, and does 50% extra damage to shields and barriers. The Talon’s two biggest drawbacks, magazine size and spread pattern, are solved by Marksman’s accuracy increase and instant reload. The Talon is the best for me but honestly, whatever light sidearm you’re good with works well. Aim to keep recharge between -10% and +10% to maintain a good recharge time on Tactical Scan for that reload canceling. A sidearm is also great for Phantoms as shooting them will make them dodge, giving you time to beat a retreat. Also, since the Phantom was shot there is a good chance she will seek cover for a few seconds and stay stationary. Perfect for Tactical Scan since all you need is a red box lock on, not necessarily a line of sight. Switch back to the Widow and headshot her through cover while she is stationary as a moving phantom only takes 25% damage from all sources.

 

N00b Rating:
4 – Not a particularly easy build to play and knowing when it’s time to pull a hasty retreat is essential. When stationary objectives happen, DO NOT perform them. Let your buddies upload data or whatever while you support them by staying out of the line of fire popping headshots. Being in the mix of things as a sniper without cloak will not only get you killed but all of the screen shaking will keep you from killing anything in return, making you worse than useless. Your buddies will have to waste time picking you up instead of shooting back.
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Fire Santa – by IIBrannigansLaw

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Build Title: Fire Santa

Class: Batarian Soldier

Map Difficulty Rating: This build has the potential for Silver gameplay

Power Evolutions:
Ballistic Blades: (4) Damage, (5) Range, (6) Explosive Blades
Blade Armor: N/A
Inferno Grenades: (4) Radius, (5) Damage, (6) Radius & Shrapnel
Batarian Enforcer: (4) Damage & Capacity, (5) Power Damage, (6) Damage & Ammo
Fitness: (4) Durability, (5) Shield Recharge, (6) Fitness Expert

 

Weapons:
The Cerberus Harrier or N7 Typhoon both complete the strategy of this build, making Fire Santa dangerous at any range. In that spirit, however, any good Assault Rifle will fill that same void. I would recommend a light backup if you choose the capacity-challenged Harrier, of course, but no matter what you do, try to keep your Power Recharge Speed as close to 200% as possible so Ballistic Blades has a short cooldown (not only ensuring that it’s almost always available, but also that the occasional combo of Ballistic Blades & Heavy Melee can be repeated eternally if necessary).

 

Gear:
Gear Bonus: Grenade Capacity or Warfighter Package

 

Strategy:
Unlike his Christian counterpart, Fire Santa comes many times a year, and instead of bringing gifts to all of the children, he brings fire to all who oppose him. If ever there was a build that makes Killstreaks easy, it’s this one; the idea is to throw Inferno Grenades into piles of enemies, spawns, etc. (saving a few for skirmishes) and watch your opponents drop, helping them along with Assault Rifle fire if they somehow survive. The Radius upgrades will ensure your grenades get maximum exposure, making it highly unlikely your tosses will miss
(making successful, trans-stage grenade chucks a very real and awesome possibility). Otherwise, the right Assault Rifle will take down any mid-range targets while Ballistic Blades will act as your infinite ammo, zero weight, personal, explosive shotgun at close-range. Although bosses don’t drop as easily, the combination of fire damage from your grenades, Ballistic Blades bleed and explosive damage, and your Assault Rifle damage should do the trick with little fuss. The weakness of this build is his need to constantly collect grenades (particularly rough when playing with other grenade users) and the Batarians’ naturally low combat agility. Also, the explosion from Ballistic Blades will not trigger a Fire Explosion, so you’ll be woefully without Tech Bursts with Fire Santa. Finally, you will need to play tactfully with strangers, unless you want your team to absolutely hate you for killing everything with the Inferno Grenades you’re lobbing everywhere (even, potentially, when you’re on the other side of the map). Although I think Fire Santa would do well on Gold with a good team, I’ve never tried for lack of a combat roll. A final point: Fire Santa is especially deadly against Cerberus; a reminder that probably goes without saying.

 

N00b Rating:
1 - The goal of Fire Santa was to make an incredibly simple character with a very, very high success rate on Silver. Ultimately, there’s no complex approach to power cooldowns, no technique with weaponry, no Tech Bursts to coordinate, and barely any thought involved overall; the radius upgrades alone will make your grenade throws obnoxiously, unfairly accurate, so this build even fosters experimentation with your tosses. The only bit of finesse comes in the completely optional, eternal chain of Hard Melee and Ballistic Blades, which is more to spice up play than anything else. Overall, just remember that you have no combat rolls and that you have to keep a careful eye on your grenade count.

 

Appearance:
C16, C16, B9, 2:B9, B1
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Pyro Unit – Ultima Ratio Regis

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Pyro Unit – by Ultima Ratio Regis

Class:
Geth Trooper Soldier

Power Evolutions:

Flamer: Reach (4), Damage (5), Armor Damage (6)
Fortification: Durability (4), Power synergy (5), Durability (6)
Hunter Mode: N/A
Networked AI: Damage & Capacity (4), Power Damage (5), Weapon Damage (6)
Advanced Hardware: Durability (4), Shield Recharge (5), Fitness Expert (6)

Weapons:

This is a flamer build. Flamer is a beast against armor and health, but it’s not very good at stripping shields, so you have to search a weapon to overcome that weakness. I would strongly recommend the acolyte, but as of today, the acolyte seems to be in a nerf process from Bioware, so I don’t know if the acolyte will work as good as is working right now. If you are going to use the acolyte, go for the heavy barrel and the magazine upgrade.

Anyhow, a weapon that doesn’t weight too much is your best option, any cool down below 100% is GOOD. An SMG for finishing enemies can be a good idea. If you have the hurricane that’s your best option, the harrier could work fine, the falcon to slow enemies or the geth plasma shotgun (remember you have 5% more damage with it since it’s a geth weapon) that can stagger enemies very easily. That’s probably the key, have the ability to staggers enemies with certain ease.

Just remember that, although this is a power focused build you will use your weapon a lot. You have no grenades or any other power besides the flamer, and the flamer can only go in one direction and has a limited radius and will not save you if you get surrounded.

Gear:

Fortification gives you 40% damage reduction, and, because this is a flamer build, you will be in very close contact with the enemy, so, if you are going in higher difficulties you must use some kind of shield booster. Anyone that fits your style is good, Shield Booster or Survivor. If you are playing lower difficulties, go for Omni-Capacitors, that will give you extra recharge speed and more flamer damage. For the rest, you can use the same tactic, higher difficulties more shield boost, and lower ones, more power damage.

I would recommend cryo ammo, it’s a great armor debuffer and it also slowdowns enemies, disruptor can work fine also since it staggers enemies very quickly and it’s extremely effective against geth.

Strategy:

You have three advantages, you are quick and agile, your flamer is VERY powerful and you have tons of shields (similar to the ones of a Krogan Soldier), but you have a very LOW health (only 412), so any tactic you use, you must be aware of this limitation and this advantage.

Your best option is to go for pure weapon damage (you did bring a DECENT weapon, right?) until the boss units appear, although this a flamer build, you still have 15% more weapon damage without counting any gears for the weapon, ammo or if you brought a geth weapon. If it’s a brute, just flame it until it’s either dead or is going to charge at you, same thing goes to ANY unit with armor (pyros, ravingers, dragoons, etc). A big problem will be the dragoons, that will act worst than brain hungry zombies and will not stop even if you are cooking them, that’s why you brought a decent weapon to stagger or slow them, scions can also be a pain due to their non stop grenade launching and cannon of death in very close range. Remember than once your shields are down, you are almost dead. Take cover or get away fast.

Flamer does not require a high learning curve, but you can use it in two different ways, one way is to use the flamer in short bursts, mainly to kill or stagger mooks, they will get panic and you can finish them off with your decent weapon, this will make flamer to recharge A LOT faster and since we spec-ed the flamer for radius we have an effective radius of around 15 meters. If you are lucky enough you may have even someone that can detonate fire explosions (overload, arc grenades, etc), this works great on spawns of earlier waves of gold and in almost any wave in silver and bronze, I can’t vouch for platinum since I haven’t try this in plat. If you decide to use the flamer all the way until the power runs out, make sure you do it for a GOOD reason, if your cool down is not very good you will not get your flamer back in six to ten seconds (a typhoon X gives six seconds cool down), but remember that a constant stream of fire will stop almost inmediately husks, abominations and almost every mook. For bosses like the Phantom or Banshee or Atlas you must strip their shields or barriers first, otherwise, you will not do a lot of damage. A Banshee in gold and in the right conditions can’t withstand more than two full rounds with your flamer, Phantoms will go down very very easily once their barriers are down, and Atlas will not withstand more than two rounds. Just take your necessary precautions to not get insta-killed or palm blasted to death.

If the acolyte is still working when you are reading this and you brought your cryo ammo, enemies will be slowed down and will get lots of debuff for their armor. Acolyte is probably your best partner, but don’t count on it for too long.

Otherwise, enjoy this magnificent character. I really do.

N00b Rating: (scale 1-5, 1 is easy for everybody!)
3. You are a front line trooper, so you will be in almost every battle and in very close contact to the enemy. This can be stressful and very very dangerous. But once you master it, is easily one of the most powerful characters in the game.

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Combat Software – by CoreyImperia

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Build Title: Combat Software

Class: Geth Trooper Soldier

Map Difficulty Rating: This build has the potential for Platinum gameplay

Power Evolutions:
Fortification: (4) Durability, (5) Power Synergy
Flamer: (4) Reach, (5) Damage, (6) Shield Damage
Hunter Mode: (4) Weapon Accuracy, (5) Power Damage, (6) Damage
Networked AI: (4) Damage & Capacity, (5) Power Damage
Advanced Hardware: (4) Durability

 

Weapons:
My recommendations are the N7 Hurricane or the Geth Plasma Shotgun. I myself take the Hurricane, but if you do, you may need to bring the Scorpion with you to deal with Phantoms in particular. The Geth Plasma Shotgun staggers so it doesn’t need a sidearm. Use SMG Recoil Systems and High Velocity Barrel for the Hurricane, Extended Magazine/Ultralight Pistol Materials and High Caliber Barrel for the Scorpion and High Caliber Barrel and Spare Thermal Clip for the Geth Plasma Shotgun. Recharge Speed isn’t a necessity on this class, as canceling Flamer early has a quick recharge but you still don’t want anything too low or negative.

 

Gear:
I recommend Warp, Incendiary or Armor-Piercing Rounds unless you are facing Geth, to which I recommend Disruptor. If you use the Geth Plasma Shotgun, do not use Armor-Piercing Rounds as it already ignores armor. Use the respective rail amp to which weapon you are using as a Primary Weapon (SMG Rail Amp or Shotgun Rail Amp). I would suggest Cyclonic Modulator unless you are confident with Geth, then Power Amplifier Module to boost Flamer. And for the gear bonus, I suggest SMG Amp or Shotgun Amp for more damage, or Stronghold Package if you feel too squishy.

 

Strategy:
I was very excited to hear of a new Geth character being released, and after seeing his powers I couldn’t wait for BioWare to release him. A Geth that finally has Flamer! It also is a bit more tanky than other Geth… well, from first glance, but we’ll talk about that later. It is a powerful class, able to succeed at all difficulties.
For its powers, You want Durability and Power Synergy from Fortification. I’m sure many players will see Fortification and think “Melee Build!” immediately. But no, the Geth have one of the weakest heavy melee in the game, dealing 375 damage at base and it drains their shields, which is a double sin for a Geth using Hunter Mode. Having 4 ranks in Advanced Hardware provides more protection in my opinion that Durability at rank 6 of Fortification. If you disagree, only put 3 in Advanced Hardware and test it out. For Flamer, you want Reach. You’ll be close, but not 10 meters close always. The extra 5 meters is handy, especially if your enemies are on lower-ground beneath you. I get Damage at rank 5 because I hardly ever have Flamer constantly going for 5 seconds and I’d never have it going for 8 seconds. That in my opinion, is too much vulnerability on Gold and Platinum. You’ll be cancelling Flamer lots so your load-out is a little more forgiving. Finally, Shield Damage to take out minions. If you want to be more of a boss killer, go for Armor Damage but as it is a Fire power, it does 50% less damage to Shields/Barriers. But if you want Flamer to be more versatile, go for Shield Damage. As for Hunter Mode, take Weapon Accuracy at rank 4. This is more so to help with the N7 Hurricane. But considering you’ll be cancelling Flamer early often, you don’t need Power Recharge either way unless you are carrying a very heavy shotgun with you (the Geth Plasma Shotgun is not heavy nor is it inaccurate). At Rank 5, you don’t need Rate of Fire because the Hurricane shoots fast anyhow. Rate of Fire is nice on the Geth Plasma Shotgun, but you get more out of that +15% Power Damage. Finally, the Damage. You’re Flamer is insanely powerful and so will whichever weapon you carry with you. Lastly for the passive you want maximum Power Damage. This is what makes the Geth Trooper so deadly, an unsurpassed Flamer.
Remember that Hunter Mode gives its penalty from your base shields, meaning the Geth Trooper loses 500 shields. He gains 400 with Rank 4 Advanced Hardware, as that is also off of base shields. Which gives him a total of 900 shields. This isn’t too squishy if you are a confident and consistent Gold/Platinum player. If not, use Cyclonic Modulators and the Stronghold Package. Cyclonic Modulator II yields 1,000 bonus shiels, Cyclonic IV gives 1,500 shields and Stronghold Package V gives 200 extra shields. For those who are fine with 900 or 1,100 if using Stronghold Package V, use the Power Amplifier Module. You putting an extra 10%/20%/30%/50% damage on Flamer! This build really shines on those higher difficulties.
Your main strategy is run off to find enemies and burn them with Flamer. Shields also shouldn’t be an issue with Shield Damage Flamer. If playing with a friend, make sure they or someone on your team has Overload to detonate your Fire Explosions. And Flamer is best detonated with Overload.
With Shield Damage on Flamer, all trooper-level enemies are easy prey. If anything gives you grief, shoot. Phantoms, Nemeses and other slippery troopers can be disposed of easily with the Scorpion if need be. If you chose to take the Geth Plasma Shotgun with you, use that instead as it reliably staggers most targets. For those pesky Guardians which block your Flamer, if taking the Hurricane, they should fall pretty quickly. Dragoons and Pyros and Bombers shouldn’t cause too much trouble either, especially with Flamer. But don’t try and beat a Pyro in a Firefight, their flamethrowers cheat. Shoot them, and Flamer if you feel it’s safe enough.
Ravagers, Brutes and Scions don’t like Flamer either. It’ll burn through a Ravager and any Swarmers they spawn, you can also take them out from afar with the Hurricane, and as long as you use Incendiary/Armor-Piercing/Warp Rounds, it won’t take long at all. You can shoot Brutes from afar and Flamer when they get close. You can also hop out of the way of their charges in the middle of your Flamer animation; this also cancels Flamer, shortening its Recharge to a minimum of a second or so. That extra 5m on Flamer will help you against Scions. You don’t want to get too close to them so they can smack your head into the pavement but you don’t want to be too far away from them so they can rail you with their Geth Prime accurate cannon that strips your shields and slows their recharge. Aim for their tumours, it lowers the armor and its effectiveness.
For the bosses, shoot them. If applicable, Flamer them from a relatively safe distance. You have little defence against their sync-kill animations if you have the Hurricane (aside from the Scorpion, but it takes time to switch weapons). The Geth Trooper will better at boss killing with a teammate or two, unless you chose Armor Damage for Flamer (which compromises its effectiveness against the minions). But can still kill them single handely with a powerful weapon. Using Flamer to strip the shields, you can then combine it with your Hurricane to tear through armor.
This build is tailored to killing enemies. As for objectives, the Geth Trooper lacks Tactical Cloak and Geth Turret to do the 4-Device objective, but still can do the others. While it isn’t as frail as other Geth, it isn’t tanky, so be aware of its shields at all times; if they go down and you’re in the open, good luck to you.

 

N00b Rating:
3.5 – The Geth Trooper is a powerful class, but he is frail like any other Hunter Mode Geth. He may have more shields, but this yields a bigger Hunter Mode penalty. Abuse Flamer as much as possible as it is your best feature and your team’s saving grace. Play him like you would other Geth, but remeber you lack Tactical Cloak or Geth Turret to get you out of sticky situations, so you need to play just as intelligently, making smart decisions. This class, like other Geth, has little room for error.
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